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The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
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Dharma Talks
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2025-10-12
Valuing Tranquility - Meditation
32:40
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Mark Nunberg
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This program is offered over Zoom. It is also simultaneously broadcast on Youtube and recorded. See below for more details.
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome. No registration necessary. Led by Mark Nunberg and guest teachers.
All programs at Common Ground are offered freely in the spirit of generosity.
There will be an opportunity for small groups after the Weekly Practice Group, both in person and on Zoom.
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Common Ground Meditation Center
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Weekly Dharma Series
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2025-10-12
Valuing Tranquility - Talk
41:21
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Mark Nunberg
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This program is offered over Zoom. It is also simultaneously broadcast on Youtube and recorded. See below for more details.
The weekly practice groups are designed to be a cornerstone for one's practice by providing ongoing instruction and teachings that will help illuminate the simple but challenging practice of mindfulness. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the way to go beyond habits of distraction and grasping. To walk this path of wisdom and compassion, we need the support of a community that shares this intention. Each session includes a guided meditation, dharma talk, and discussion. Both experienced and beginning meditators are welcome. No registration necessary. Led by Mark Nunberg and guest teachers.
All programs at Common Ground are offered freely in the spirit of generosity.
There will be an opportunity for small groups after the Weekly Practice Group, both in person and on Zoom.
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Common Ground Meditation Center
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Weekly Dharma Series
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2025-10-01
Effort means using energy wisely
46:54
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Ajahn Sucitto
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The indriya work together – if one's faith is placed with wisdom and mindfulness sustains the focus on the wholesome, concentration occurs and one's energy is replenished. Effort should be wisely applied to break the pull of negative obsessions, The sense of time is to be uprooted, for example in walking meditation.
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Cittaviveka
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Cittaviveka 2025 Vassa
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2025-09-16
Obstacles on the Path: Sense Desire & Aversion (Retreat at Spirit Rock)
55:51
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Gullu Singh
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Talk Synopsis: Clearing the Poisons – Greed and Aversion
This talk explores how the Buddha’s teachings on dukkha and the three unwholesome roots—greed, aversion, and delusion—relate to the common mental obstacles that arise in meditation and daily life. Framed through the lens of the five hindrances, the talk looks closely at how these energies obscure attention and contribute to suffering.
The talk includes a practical discussion of temperament—how some of us tend more toward craving, others toward irritation or confusion—and how understanding these patterns can support clarity and compassion. Rather than trying to get rid of these states, the emphasis is on recognizing and relating to them with awareness, in line with the Buddha’s instruction to know dukkha and its causes.
Grounded in the Four Noble Truths, the talk points toward a path of practice that works with what's difficult—not as a problem to fix, but as a doorway to insight and freedom.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Clearing the Path: Opening the Heart and Mind
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2025-09-13
Q&A
51:44
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Q1 Could you speak further on how we can preserve our energies? 04:46 Q2 I've a volatile and troubled sibling and have tried to act with compassion. But the cost is over dependency and the constant drama. What can you advise? 17:33 Q3 Is there a way in meditation to deal with blind spots? 24:09 Q4 How would you suggest that we work with traumatic life events that have occurred in the past and of which one has hardly any recollection of? 27:28 Q5 How to deal with persistent feelings in different parts of the body? 33:24 Q6 I had a lot of difficulty with my hand. Sometimes the pain would throw me to the floor. QiGong has been helpful. Can you suggest any other techniques? 37:17 Q7 I've had problems in my throat with difficulty to swallow and also feeling difficult to balance and an inner shakiness. Do you have any suggestions? 38:48 Q8 Some meditation instructions I've tried suggest progressing in stages and only moving on to the next set of challenges once mastery has been achieved in the current level. I often feel contracted with a sense of me, doing this type of practice. What would you advise? 43:07 Q9 Can you please give further clarifications on cetana. 48:35 Q10 The mind can be silent for a long period of time with a few thoughts coming and going. I'm not sure what I should do. Just observe? I can be bored sometimes.
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Amaravati Monastery
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Silent Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
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2025-09-12
Q&A
45:44
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Q1 Do you emphasize one form sitting, standing, walking, reclining over the others when meditating? Q2 08:30 the mind feels cooked during longer sitting meditations. Some heavy energy in my head develops into a headache. What do you suggest? 10:17 Q3 This person says they feel like something disgusting and worthless. 17:17 Q4 You talked about ghosts and how we can create them. Even if we stay sensitive and open whom can we meet other or connect to than our perceptions? 23:11 Q5 How is it possible to face the resistances to this practice and to participating in retreats? 33:56 Q6 I have imaginary conversations and dialogues with people and about imagined situations going in my head all the time. Especially when I sit down to meditate. a) What are they? b) What causes this habit? c) How do I set these aside?
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Amaravati Monastery
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Silent Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
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2025-09-10
Q&A
35:21
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Q1 Why is it hard for the citta to let go of a conditioned response? 12:47 Q2 Regarding meditation themes, what makes a suitable theme? 26:27 Q3 What kind of lifestyle and level of practice is needed for stream entry? What were you doing when things really opened up for you?
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Amaravati Monastery
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Silent Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
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2025-09-03
Awakening from Ignorance: Going beyond the Main Habitual Constructions of Experience 1
60:24
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Donald Rothberg
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The Buddha saw the core problem in human life as "ignorance"(avijjā), not an ignorance of facts or information, but rather a not-knowing about the basic nature of reality and our experience. The Dalai Lama tells us: "There is a fundamental disparity between the way we perceive the world, including our own experience in it, and the way things actually are." We explore how similar understandings of a core human ignorance are found in Plato, Christian and Islamic traditions, and in later Buddhist traditions.
The Buddha said, in particular, that we are ignorant about impermanence, dukkha (or reactivity), and the nature of the self. We look into some of the main habitual constructions of experience, including a sense of permanent, stable, separate external objects, and a sense of a separate, independent self, pointing to ways of exploring such constructions meditatively. We also point to experiences in which we go beyond such constructions, in meditation and also in "flow" experiences. The talk is followed by discussion.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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Monday and Wednesday Talks
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